In his third and final appearance at the prestigious Byron Nelson Junior Championship golf tournament at Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, San Angelo Central High School graduate Jansen Smith saved his best for last.

The 2018 graduate finished in a two-way tie for second place after shooting an even-par round of 71 Thursday for a 4-under total of 209. He was tied for the lead with a 66 on Tuesday and followed that up with a 72 in Round 2.

Plano's Pierceson Coody, the grandson of former PGA player and 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody of Abilene, won the tournament by three shots after shooting 66-73-67--206.

Argyle's Gaven Lane (73-69-67--209) tied for second with Smith.

It was a bit of a roller-coaster day for the ex-Bobcat in the final round, but overall he felt pretty good about things.

"I had a really steady front nine (with a 35) and I was playing pretty good and I had a two- or three-hole stretch where I struggled," the Texas Tech University signee said. "And Pierceson just kind of lit up.

"It was playing tough today and when I needed to make putts I kind of struggled with making the ones that I needed. But I finished really strong and I was really happy with the way I played all week."

Mother Nature didn't make it any easier on most of the field, as illustrated by second-round leader Brandon Hoff of Austin having to settle for a tie for fourth after posting a 76 Thursday.

"After the first day, the wind kind of progressively kicked up more and more," Smith said. "It was kind of tough to see which direction the wind was blowing sometimes. It did get tougher and tougher each day and it really did kind of show its teeth mostly today."

As you'd expect in an amateur tournament of this magnitude, the pin placements were also very challenging.

"You had to kind of know when to be aggressive and know when to kind of play for par," the San Angelo southpaw said.

Smith improved on a ninth-place finish last year at the Byron Nelson.

"It was just kind of a so-so week and I came in this year thinking I was finally going to learn from my mistakes over the past two years," he said. "This year I came in knowing what I needed to do and when to be aggressive and when not to be. I thought I did that really well and kind of played smart all three days."

Like the other players in the field who recently graduated, this was the final appearance for Smith at one of his favorite summer tournaments.

But he'll be seeing a lot of the same faces over the next four years in college.

"We've been playing together for probably four or five years now," Smith said. "We're all really good friends and it's a lot of fun to compete with guys like that."

He talked about what makes this tournament so special.

"I love coming up to Fort Worth and the course is always in great shape," Smith said. "And being able to play in a tournament where guys like Jordan Spieth have won and just being able to walk the same fairways he did, it's a really cool experience and something I'm glad I've been a part of."

As usual, it'll be another busy summer for Smith, who is looking forward to the challenges he faces in college.

The next event on his agenda is the Texas Amateur tourney in Huntsville on June 14-17.

Plano's Pierceson Coody rallied for a three-stroke win at the Byron Nelson Junior Championship in Dallas on Thursday. He's the grandson of former PGA player and 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody. Coody shot 66-73-67--206 to finish at 7-under par.(Photo: Kellen Kubasak/Texas Golf Association)